Black Residents Loyal To Delray Community

DELRAY BEACH -- When Winston Davis moved to Delray Beach 35 years ago, he found that many black people settled in the northwest section of the city because that was the only place they could live.

Today, the area bordered by Southwest 10th Avenue, Lake Ida Road, Interstate 95 and Swinton Avenue is considered the heart of the black community.

``This was it for us,`` said Davis, 60, the city`s first black mail carrier. ``We couldn`t move out west like we do today because it was all segregated.``

Despite many negative images about the neighborhood, Davis and several other prominent residents refuse to abandon it. The residents, among them educators, a Palm Beach County circuit judge, law enforcement officers, journalists and members of the clergy, say they are proud of the community, which includes Pompey Park, City Hall, police headquarters, a fire station and several churches.

As the city prepares to celebrate with the Roots Festival, the residents are thinking of ways to improve their neighborhood.

``The question is, `What we can do to salvage it?``` said C. Spencer Pompey, a 41-year resident in the community. ``A place of abode is more than a place to sleep. We just can`t abandon our community to the riffraffs.``

Many people brand the entire neighborhood as a drug-infested and crime- riddled one. But some residents argue that the brunt of the problem is within the blocks of Northwest Fourth and Fifth avenues.

The image problem dates back to the mid-1970s when there were at least three nightclubs in the vicinity of Northwest Fifth, some residents said. The police constantly responded to calls in that section, which was plagued by shootings, prostitution, drug sales and vagrancy.

Thus, the entire 80-acre neighborhood was tagged as a crime-prone neighborhood, residents said.

Today there are three nightclubs in the area, but they are not a problem, residents say.

While there may be some crime associated with another club -- the Paradise Club -- which is between Northwest Ninth and 10th avenues, it is not enough to taint the entire area, City Commissioner David Randolph said.

Police officials said crime has dropped in the area since they began a foot patrol last year.

After he was discharged from the U.S. Army, Randolph built his home on Northwest 11th Avenue because he wanted to be close to his in-laws. He said he felt it is important to maintain that family nucleus in the community.

``If the black community is going to remain there, somebody has got to be there as a stabilizing force,`` Randolph said. ``And I don`t mean rentals either, because rentals can go anytime. I`m talking about homeowners.``

Some residents think the problems in Delray Beach`s black community are magnified more than in cities such as Boynton Beach, which also has a large black community.

``Some of the reports of crime are justified, but the news media tends to overexaggerate the crime in the area,`` said former City Commissioner Jimmy Weatherspoon, who lives on Northwest Eighth Avenue.

The residents hope that through the upcoming Roots Festival -- which begins on Saturday -- they will be able to showcase the positive side of the black community.

The 14th annual Roots Festival is a 24-day celebration of black heritage in the city.

Some also say that the community needs more role models to help in preserving its character.

``To correct the problem, we need more people like myself to build more nice homes and raise their families in this area,`` Weatherspoon said. ``The only reason why evil prevails is because good people won`t do anything. We have to have more law-abiding people build homes along Fifth Avenue.``